2012-10-26

Sometimes science can be horribly complicated and while some bandy words about without question; others scratch their heads and wonder what on earth they are talking about! Science Made Simple is a series of 15 animated interstitials produced for TVNZ 7, a New Zealand TV station, aimed at demystifying and defining commonly used, but little understood, scientific and technological jargon. The series focuses on the defiition of the sort of words viewers may read in the newspaper, but don't always understand.

Here are three of the interstitials – simply but cleverly animated. So, have you ever wondered what quantum physics is? You can familiarize yourself with terms such as superposition, Schrödinger’s cat, the many worlds theory and then move on to genetics. There you can find out about genetic modification – how transferring a gene from one organism to another can transfer characteristics. Finally you will get to learn about the superconductor – and how it can conduct electricity without losing electricity.

2012-10-24

Psychologist Barry Schwartz takes aim at a central tenet of western societies: freedom of choice. In Schwartz's estimation, choice has made us not freer but more paralyzed, not happier but more dissatisfied.

2012-10-23

Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, challenges the idea that well be miserable if we dont get what we want. Our "psychological immune system" lets us feel truly happy even when things dont go as planned.

Michael Shermer says the human tendency to believe strange things -- from alien abductions to dowsing rods -- boils down to two of the brain's most basic, hard-wired survival skills. He explains what they are, and how they get us into trouble.

A young inventor, trapped in his home in the clouds, is determined to create a contraption which will enable him to fly. He may not succeed but in the end he has, perhaps, something much more precious.

This is a collection of timelapses created by Tom Ryaboi. You would be forgiven for thinking that he had been doing this for quite some time but he only started doing this a year ago. With City Rising he wanted to bring others up to his perspective, and from here, show them the city as they have never seen it before — where the boundary between earth and sky is unclear and the placid beauty of the city lays spread out below, quietly humming along.City Rising takes the viewer straight through rush hour traffic to the highest urban peaks and the clouds above it all, all in under four minutes. It is some of the most astonishing footage that you will see this year.